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Ferrari Roma Spider

Wednesday, Sep 27, 2023 12:00 AM

The brilliant coupé is a hard act for a heavier, less rigid convertible to follow, even when it looks as attractive as this. And yet… Whenever a new mid-engined Ferrari coupé is launched, you can set your watch to the inevitable launch of the convertible version. But the front-engined V8 Ferrari Roma appeared in 2020, and then… nothing.In some ways, that made sense. The Roma was positioned as the keen driver’s alternative to the Ferrari Portofino. It was a coupé with a more focused suspension tune, but also styling that was more subtly elegant, less shouty and more of a personal pleasure.Anyway, you can forget most of that, because in comes the Ferrari Roma Spider, making the Portofino largely redundant. It’s a good thing that the latter is going off sale soon. You’d almost think Ferrari planned it like this.Mind you, the drop-top Roma is still a slightly different proposition from the Portofino. The headline change is that Ferrari has abandoned the bulky, heavy, folding metal hard-top and gone back to a canvas roof.Like Mercedes has with the latest Mercedes-AMG SL, Ferrari can do this because modern soft-tops are a far cry from the leaky tent you would have found on your Triumph Spitfire in the 1970s. The Roma’s is made from eight layers in total, has a glass rear window and folds up and down in a mere 13.5sec at vehicle speeds of up to 37mph. It’s available in six colours, including a special technical weave.

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